Drug dealers hit in wallet

POLICE seized more than £1.6 million in ill-gotten gains from drug dealers in Greater Manchester last year. For the first time the Home Office have published details of confiscated cash and goods from the proceeds of drug crime by each force across the country.

POLICE seized more than £1.6 million in ill-gotten gains from drug dealers in Greater Manchester last year.

For the first time the Home Office have published details of confiscated cash and goods from the proceeds of drug crime by each force across the country.

The seizures in Greater Manchester formed part of more than £34m recovered nationwide in 2007 as the government cracks down on drug profits.

Police in London topped the list with £4.9m, followed by Merseyside (£3.1m), Dorset (£2.8m), Kent (£1.8m) and the West Midlands (£1.8m). Greater Manchester's total included £350,000 worth of cash and assets confiscated from Barry Graham, a gangster from Dukinfield, who was jailed for 12 and a half years for his part in a vicious kidnap.

Graham - who was found to have heroin worth £10,000 when he was arrested at his home - was convicted of conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm and having class A drugs with intent to supply.

Officers from GMP's financial investigation unit worked for weeks to establish how much he had netted from his criminal activities. Confiscation orders are made against a convicted defendant, ordering they pay the amount they gained from criminal activity.

Government ministers have regularly urged forces to do more to use beefed-up confiscation powers under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

It was passed to try to reclaim some of the estimated £18 billion worth of crime committed in Britain every year - the equivalent of around two per cent of the national income. The government has claimed the new powers have hit criminals `where it hurts - in the pocket'.